The Moon is Red at Yr Ysgwrn

1 Oct 2018

During the month of the Welsh History Festival for Children, Yr Ysgwrn is thrilled to work with the Festival and Welsh Books Council to provide literary experiences outside the classroom for the secondary school pupils of Gwynedd.

During the month of the Welsh History Festival for Children, Yr Ysgwrn is thrilled to work with the Festival and Welsh Books Council to provide literary experiences outside the classroom for the secondary school pupils of Gwynedd.

Today and over the coming days, pupils from years 7 and 8 of four secondary schools will attend workshops by poet and author, Myrddin ap Dafydd, on his recent novel, Mae'r Lleuad yn Goch (The Moon is Red). The novel, which deals with the themes of the fire in Llŷn in 1936 and the burning of the village of Gernika in the Basque Country in 1937, won the Tir Na n-Og prize in the secondary school category.

During the workshops, pupils will learn about the history of Wales through the events in Llŷn and the Basque Country and the impact of the timeless themes of war, peace and friendship on the people of today. Pupils will also consider these connections to Yr Ysgwrn and the story of Hedd Wyn, before participating in a Bertsolaritza, a kind of poetry challenge that has its roots in the Basque Country. During the Bertsolaritza, pupils will create their own poems and meters on current issues.

Helen Jones from the Welsh Books Council said;

"An Author's Tour with one of the Tir Na n-Og prize winners is an exciting event and I'm sure that Myrddin ap Dafydd will inspire the students with his infectious enthusiasm. We are pleased that we can support schools by offering experiences like this outside of the classroom. Yr Ysgwrn is the perfect location for the topics discussed in 'Mae'r Lleuad yn Goch', which are the burning of the Bombing School in Penyberth and the Gernika disaster during the Spanish Civil War. We are proud to be able to work with the Snowdonia National Park and the Welsh History Festival to offer this exciting event for secondary school pupils."

Sian Griffiths, Yr Ysgwrn Project Manager said;

"We’re thrilled to provide local youngsters with the opportunity to visit Yr Ysgwrn to experience Welsh and European history, literature and poetry. The workshops during the Welsh History Festival provide pupils with exciting literary experiences outside the class room, that will improve their learning across the curriculum. The novel 'Mae'r Lleuad yn Goch' deals with universal themes that were as relevant to Hedd Wyn during the First World War as they were to the residents of Llŷn and Gernika in the 1930s and they remain current to this day."